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Thursday, March 15, 2007
Table of Contents
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Dear Reader Letter
Dear Reader,
Working in a fast paced Doctor's office, taking orders from everyone, while receiving low pay was a great experience for a recently graduated Medical Assistant, but the experience left me with wanting more. I decided that it was time to go back to school and become a Registered Nurse, so I could give the orders and receive the higher pay. Becoming a Nurse was going to be a long road for me and I didn't quite know where to start. I have been out of high school for seven years now and thought it would be best to start with English 97.
On my first day of English 97 I thought the class was going to be a breeze becasue I already knew how to write. Little did I know, there was a ton of stuff that I didn't know about sentence structure and punctuation. I ended up learning a lot about how to fine tune my writing, improve my skills, and how to use different writing techniques. After completing English 97 I feel that I am on the right track to becoming a successful college student and one day a Nurse. I am looking forward to learning even more next quarter in English 98.
The e-portfolio that I have put together refelcts a lot back on me. I chose pieces that I thought best show my writing abilities and pieces that are about subjects that are a part of my life. For example I have written several on different aspects of ATV riding, a hobby that I love to do; I also wrote papers on snowboarding .
Thank you for taking the time to view my e-portfolio. I hope you enjoy reading the pieces of writing I have selected as much as I have enjoyed writing them.
Working in a fast paced Doctor's office, taking orders from everyone, while receiving low pay was a great experience for a recently graduated Medical Assistant, but the experience left me with wanting more. I decided that it was time to go back to school and become a Registered Nurse, so I could give the orders and receive the higher pay. Becoming a Nurse was going to be a long road for me and I didn't quite know where to start. I have been out of high school for seven years now and thought it would be best to start with English 97.
On my first day of English 97 I thought the class was going to be a breeze becasue I already knew how to write. Little did I know, there was a ton of stuff that I didn't know about sentence structure and punctuation. I ended up learning a lot about how to fine tune my writing, improve my skills, and how to use different writing techniques. After completing English 97 I feel that I am on the right track to becoming a successful college student and one day a Nurse. I am looking forward to learning even more next quarter in English 98.
The e-portfolio that I have put together refelcts a lot back on me. I chose pieces that I thought best show my writing abilities and pieces that are about subjects that are a part of my life. For example I have written several on different aspects of ATV riding, a hobby that I love to do; I also wrote papers on snowboarding .
Thank you for taking the time to view my e-portfolio. I hope you enjoy reading the pieces of writing I have selected as much as I have enjoyed writing them.
Introduction to Granite Peaks Lodge
The first piece of writing I have chosen to share with you is our first major writing assignment. I wrote this piece in January 2007 and it's titled "Granite Peaks Lodge." This piece is a descriptive paper, and I chose it because I feel it is the paper that I have made several improvements to throughout the writing process.The strength of the paper comes from my descriptive word choices and the sensory details I have chosen. "The lodge's exterior mimics and old rustic log cabin, giving you a sense of warmth and an invitation for a good time." A good use of sensory details would be "The smell of Tully's roasted coffee beans fill the air with a heavenly aroma."I feel these sentences give the reader a clear picture of what kind of place it is and the paper allows you to know what I experiece when I am there. Another reason why I chose this paper is I love to snowbaord and the lodge is one of the high lights of my day when I travel to Steven's Pass.
Granite Peaks Lodge
A perfect place to unwind would be at the Granite Peaks Lodge located in the heart of Steven's Pass. After a day of hitting the slopes, you may want to spend the evening relaxing and conversing with fellow skiers and snowboarders over a hot meal. The lodge offers lounging and delicious food from cheeseburgers to crisp salads that are all prepared in the famous Cascadian Kitchen. The lodge's exterior mimics an old rustic log cabin, giving you a sense of warmth and an invitation for a good time.
Walking though the tall swinging wooden doors, you'll become instantly toasty from your fingertips all the way down to your toes. The smell of Tully's roasted coffee beans fill the air with a heavenly aroma. Overstuffed couches provide a cozy place to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate or two.
As you make your way up the stairs to the second floor, long tables with wooden benches fill the room, all postioned to focus on the windows that surround the lodge revealing a winter wonderland. A wonderland of snow coated trees and heavy snow that blankets the ground and a snow fall so heavy that it covers up your foot prints after every step.
A man stands in the middle directing the crowd of people towards the grill or the salad line, like a sheep herder trying to herd his sheep home. An array of baked goods abd candy bars are displayed in front of the registers for you not to miss. Whether you're just relaxing at the lodge or feasting on yummy food and treats at the Cascadian Kitchen, a fun experience is always expected. When you want that sense of being on vacation, but don't want to travel far from home, the Granite Peaks Lodge is the place to be.
Walking though the tall swinging wooden doors, you'll become instantly toasty from your fingertips all the way down to your toes. The smell of Tully's roasted coffee beans fill the air with a heavenly aroma. Overstuffed couches provide a cozy place to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate or two.
As you make your way up the stairs to the second floor, long tables with wooden benches fill the room, all postioned to focus on the windows that surround the lodge revealing a winter wonderland. A wonderland of snow coated trees and heavy snow that blankets the ground and a snow fall so heavy that it covers up your foot prints after every step.
A man stands in the middle directing the crowd of people towards the grill or the salad line, like a sheep herder trying to herd his sheep home. An array of baked goods abd candy bars are displayed in front of the registers for you not to miss. Whether you're just relaxing at the lodge or feasting on yummy food and treats at the Cascadian Kitchen, a fun experience is always expected. When you want that sense of being on vacation, but don't want to travel far from home, the Granite Peaks Lodge is the place to be.
Introduction to Reeder Pit
The second piece of writing is from a show not tell journal that was written in January 2007. A show not tell journal is where you describe soemthing in a way that lets the reader know what your talking about without comming right out and saying it. For example the trails in my journal are difficult to ride on, but I decscribe why they are difficult, so that the reader can picture it. The title of my paper is "Reeder Pit", which is one of the places I go to ride my quad. I chose this piece as my best descriptive paper beacuse it allows to feel what it's like to ride some of these trails. The strength of the paper comes from the description of not only what the trails look like, but also the challenges I face when I'm riding them. My sentence that shows this is; "The trails are a mix of sharp, jagged rocks to giant, swampy mud holes with tree ruts and other debris to climb over." I also wanted to share the one because ATV riding was the focus of my blog this quarter.
Reeder Pit
A massive dirt pit filled with sand and rocks of all sizes. Branching out from the dirt pit are the beginnings of treacherous trails. Each trail contains a specific color of flag to help you determine to venture it or not depending on if you're a beginner, pro or somewhere in between. The trails are a mix of sharp jagged roacks to giant swampy mud holes with tree rits and other debris to climb over. One side remains a rounded cliff edge that allows room for only a curvy, bumpy, narrow road for you to ride up. Mossy trees shade the trails and protect them from rain, as if they had formed a huge umbrella over head. You could smell the fresh crisp air and taste the tiny drips of mud that slowly drip from your helmet. Around every corner lies a new challenge weather it be digging your tires deep in the mud to scale a hill or to watch out for enormous lifted trucks that were made just for the dirt. Either way your whole day consists of snap decisions on what to do next. If you successfully made it back out to the dirt filled pit, chances are your dirt filled yourself and completely exhausted. This place only exist at Reeder Pit an awesome place to ride if your up to the challenge.
Introduction to Almost Perfect
The third piece I have selected comes from one of my blog enteries that I wrote in February 2007 and it's called "Almost Perfect." A blog is kind of like an online journal. You can share stories, thoughts and pictures of things you would like people to know about you. My blog was all about ATV riding and this particualr blog I chose was about the best day I had riding because it was my day that I showed the most improvements on and had the most adventures. I chose this piece because I thought it would give the reader some prespective on what a typical day of ATV riding might be like. I also thought the story had a good climax with lots of events leading up to my first crash. I feel the papers strong point was "This day for me I knew was going to be different, for Nick had invited several of his experienced friends along and I knew I had to ride more aggressively then I had been." I picked that sentence as being the strong point because I felt it set the mood for the whole paper. The reader already knows that this paper was about a challenge for me that I had to overcome.
Almost Perfect
At the end of each riding day, I think about what I could of done differently and what skills I could improve. The Sunday before last was an almost perfect riding day for me. The light barely peering through the darkness ending the night, I hear a few short beeps from my alarm clock and I abruptly awake. Running to my closet to throw on my many layers of riding gear, and tightly twisting my hair into braided pig tails ,we then load up the quads and head out to ride the trails of Walker Valley. This day for me I knew was going to be different, for Nick and invited several if his experienced friends along and I knew I had to ride more aggressively then I had been.
The drive was a little less then an hour, but it gave me plenty of time to think of strategies. I thought to myself that "I am going to ride as hard as I can and if I tip over, Oh well." Tipping my quad over or crashing has so far been my biggest fear and has affected my riding abilities. My heart began to beat a little faster as we entered the parking lot and Nick started to unload my quad. Reaching down flipping the gas switch, turning the key and pushing in the start button, my quad was warmed up and ready to go. With my helmet strapped extra tight I set out behind five quads and three dirt bikes all Nicks friends.
The first trail came up that leads to the others, it's not a difficult one, but it has a lot of twists and turns. As I make my way up to the top, I notice I am starting to lag behind as usual. I quickly began aggressively flying over tree ruts and rocks, while remaining constant speed. "Wow" I thought to myself, everyone is cheering for me and Nick was looking so impressed, so I kept it up all day even though I was scared inside. I was doing awesome, with keeping up with everyone then all of the sudden out of no where my right tire caught a rock, causing my quad to jerk to the left, rip the handle bars out of my hands and smacking me right into a tree stump. A near by voice shouted " Are you OK ?" Without hesitation I yelled back " Yeah I am OK," then I thought to myself " Am I OK?" It happened so fast I wasn't sure. I looked down and saw that the handle bars had jammed me in the ribs and my arm was momentarily stuck between my handle bars and the tree stump. Pausing for a few seconds I realized that I was going to be fine and decided to keep going.
I was startled from the minor crash, but I was also relieved, for it helped me get over my fear of crashing, by reassuring me that crashing was not that bad. Soon after that my awesome day of riding continued, I even made it through a mud pit that know else did. At the end of the day everyone was complementing me on my riding and it was all I could talk about over the next week.
The drive was a little less then an hour, but it gave me plenty of time to think of strategies. I thought to myself that "I am going to ride as hard as I can and if I tip over, Oh well." Tipping my quad over or crashing has so far been my biggest fear and has affected my riding abilities. My heart began to beat a little faster as we entered the parking lot and Nick started to unload my quad. Reaching down flipping the gas switch, turning the key and pushing in the start button, my quad was warmed up and ready to go. With my helmet strapped extra tight I set out behind five quads and three dirt bikes all Nicks friends.
The first trail came up that leads to the others, it's not a difficult one, but it has a lot of twists and turns. As I make my way up to the top, I notice I am starting to lag behind as usual. I quickly began aggressively flying over tree ruts and rocks, while remaining constant speed. "Wow" I thought to myself, everyone is cheering for me and Nick was looking so impressed, so I kept it up all day even though I was scared inside. I was doing awesome, with keeping up with everyone then all of the sudden out of no where my right tire caught a rock, causing my quad to jerk to the left, rip the handle bars out of my hands and smacking me right into a tree stump. A near by voice shouted " Are you OK ?" Without hesitation I yelled back " Yeah I am OK," then I thought to myself " Am I OK?" It happened so fast I wasn't sure. I looked down and saw that the handle bars had jammed me in the ribs and my arm was momentarily stuck between my handle bars and the tree stump. Pausing for a few seconds I realized that I was going to be fine and decided to keep going.
I was startled from the minor crash, but I was also relieved, for it helped me get over my fear of crashing, by reassuring me that crashing was not that bad. Soon after that my awesome day of riding continued, I even made it through a mud pit that know else did. At the end of the day everyone was complementing me on my riding and it was all I could talk about over the next week.
Introduction to Road Trip
The final peice is my second major writing assignment. I worte in February 2007 and it's titled "Road Trip." This one I chose as my own personal pick because it was the one I had the most fun writing. It allowed me to reminisce back on my favorite trip I took to California. I feel overall the paper is entertaining and the strengths of the paper come from the dialouge. An example of that would be,"He already was calling to check in on me and little did I know that was only the first of fifteen phone calls I would recieve that night; all the calls asking the same questions, where are you now? and Are the boys driving safely? and I would reply with Yes, Dad everything is fine." From this paper I not only learned how to write dialouge, but I also learned how to write narratively. I think this paper is a good example on how to write a narrative, but also keeping the paper descriptive. I feel that after reading this paper you will know why it was my most memorable trip.
Road Trip
Five years ago this May, I took my most memorable road trip to California. The trip came about unexpectedly when my boyfriend Nick had learned that his race motor was not going to be shipped to Washington and that it needed to be picked up. We decided that we would make the eighteen hour drive without stopping to Los Angles since we didn’t get much time off from work. In order to do that, we would need another driver just in case we got too tired; we recruited our best friend Rob, and he was of course excited to go. The three of us headed out on a Saturday afternoon in our 1994 GMC Yukon. We could only hope that it would make the drive due the fact the mileage read well over one hundred thousand. Taking my seat in the back with an abundance of luggage and snacks, as I anxiously awaited to arrive in California. We had only been traveling a mere hour, when my cell phone rang; it was my Dad worried of course, since this was my first time away from home without him. He was already calling to check in
on me and little did I know that this was only the first of fifteen phone calls I would receive that night. All the calls asking the same questions, “Where are you now?” and “Are the boys driving safely?” and I would reply with, “Yes, Dad everything is fine.”
Washington seemed to take the longest to travel through with the jammed freeway lanes and with the never ending road construction. The afternoon started turning into a dark, chilly night as we headed through the mountain passes of Oregon. My job on this trip was to keep Nick and Rob awake when it was their turn to drive. This meant that I was not to sleep until we arrived in California. Keeping Nick awake was a breeze, but as for Rob, he would drive with his eyes so tightly squinted and fixated on the road, it was hard for me to tell if he was awake. The only thing I could come up with was reading him every road sign I could see, and he would respond to me with an “Ok” after each one. Sometime towards the end of Oregon, I could feel my eyelids grow heavy, and my mind start to slip into some sort of delusional trance. I fought it for as long as I could, but I eventually fell asleep.
Sprawled across the backseat tightly wrapped in a fleece blanket, my forehead started to sweat and I could hear the sounds of cars roaring their engines and horns honking with out cause. I thought to myself, “Where am I, How long was I asleep for?”Without even realizing a quick nap had turned into four hours of sleep. With the hot sun beaming down on me, I sat up and to my surprise I was in California. We immediately picked up the race motor from a little shop right outside Los Angles. Rob and I waited in the car, while Nick ran in to get it; when he returned, he looked at us with exhaustion and said, “Since, we have come this far, we might as well go to Disneyland instead of just heading home.” An instant rush of excitement came over me and made me forget just how tired I was. Anaheim, the city where Disneyland is located, was not far at all, and we were able to get a hotel right across the street.
The hotel room was perfect to unwind in with its two queen beds and swimming pool; we spent the rest of the day in relaxation. Morning came fast and I could hardly wait to enter the giant gates leading into the wondrous theme park that I had not seen since I was a kid. It was warm enough for summer clothes and the right time a year not to have to wait in lines for the rides. I started my Disneyland adventure out with some Mickey Mouse shaped waffles drenched in sweet maple syrup. “Eat fast,” I yelled to Nick and Rob “I can’t wait to ride Space Mountain.” After breakfast we rushed off to the rides. The problem of having three people is that somebody had to ride the rides alone, but Rob didn’t seem to mine. The trip was nothing short of comical entertainment. I think it gave us enough inside jokes to last a life time; for instance, while on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. This obnoxious boy about twelve years of age continued to shout out in a high pitched voice, “C’mon Amaya, we were suppose to ride together;” this lasted throughout the entire ride, and to this day, when one of us is taking too long ,we yell out mimicking that annoying voice, “C’mon Amaya.”
During one of our breaks, Nick and I had wandered over to a churro cart for a quick snack, leaving Rob to rest on a nearby bench. Suddenly out of nowhere a crow landed on Rob’s shoulder. I pointed it out to Nick, and we began to laugh hysterically as Rob proceeded to try and get the bird away from him. For some reason it was not working, and Rob ran frantically over to us not knowing what to do; as he ran it startled the bird and it flew off, leaving Rob convinced that it was an artificial bird made by Disneyland sent out to get him. After a day of enjoying the rides, food, and shopping, it
was time to drive home.
The drive home seemed a lot faster; everyone had settled down and remained quiet throughout the night. It felt good to be back at home, but I knew that this was the trip I would never forget and it would always be my favorite.
on me and little did I know that this was only the first of fifteen phone calls I would receive that night. All the calls asking the same questions, “Where are you now?” and “Are the boys driving safely?” and I would reply with, “Yes, Dad everything is fine.”
Washington seemed to take the longest to travel through with the jammed freeway lanes and with the never ending road construction. The afternoon started turning into a dark, chilly night as we headed through the mountain passes of Oregon. My job on this trip was to keep Nick and Rob awake when it was their turn to drive. This meant that I was not to sleep until we arrived in California. Keeping Nick awake was a breeze, but as for Rob, he would drive with his eyes so tightly squinted and fixated on the road, it was hard for me to tell if he was awake. The only thing I could come up with was reading him every road sign I could see, and he would respond to me with an “Ok” after each one. Sometime towards the end of Oregon, I could feel my eyelids grow heavy, and my mind start to slip into some sort of delusional trance. I fought it for as long as I could, but I eventually fell asleep.
Sprawled across the backseat tightly wrapped in a fleece blanket, my forehead started to sweat and I could hear the sounds of cars roaring their engines and horns honking with out cause. I thought to myself, “Where am I, How long was I asleep for?”Without even realizing a quick nap had turned into four hours of sleep. With the hot sun beaming down on me, I sat up and to my surprise I was in California. We immediately picked up the race motor from a little shop right outside Los Angles. Rob and I waited in the car, while Nick ran in to get it; when he returned, he looked at us with exhaustion and said, “Since, we have come this far, we might as well go to Disneyland instead of just heading home.” An instant rush of excitement came over me and made me forget just how tired I was. Anaheim, the city where Disneyland is located, was not far at all, and we were able to get a hotel right across the street.
The hotel room was perfect to unwind in with its two queen beds and swimming pool; we spent the rest of the day in relaxation. Morning came fast and I could hardly wait to enter the giant gates leading into the wondrous theme park that I had not seen since I was a kid. It was warm enough for summer clothes and the right time a year not to have to wait in lines for the rides. I started my Disneyland adventure out with some Mickey Mouse shaped waffles drenched in sweet maple syrup. “Eat fast,” I yelled to Nick and Rob “I can’t wait to ride Space Mountain.” After breakfast we rushed off to the rides. The problem of having three people is that somebody had to ride the rides alone, but Rob didn’t seem to mine. The trip was nothing short of comical entertainment. I think it gave us enough inside jokes to last a life time; for instance, while on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. This obnoxious boy about twelve years of age continued to shout out in a high pitched voice, “C’mon Amaya, we were suppose to ride together;” this lasted throughout the entire ride, and to this day, when one of us is taking too long ,we yell out mimicking that annoying voice, “C’mon Amaya.”
During one of our breaks, Nick and I had wandered over to a churro cart for a quick snack, leaving Rob to rest on a nearby bench. Suddenly out of nowhere a crow landed on Rob’s shoulder. I pointed it out to Nick, and we began to laugh hysterically as Rob proceeded to try and get the bird away from him. For some reason it was not working, and Rob ran frantically over to us not knowing what to do; as he ran it startled the bird and it flew off, leaving Rob convinced that it was an artificial bird made by Disneyland sent out to get him. After a day of enjoying the rides, food, and shopping, it
was time to drive home.
The drive home seemed a lot faster; everyone had settled down and remained quiet throughout the night. It felt good to be back at home, but I knew that this was the trip I would never forget and it would always be my favorite.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
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